The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2017 KIDS COUNT® Data Book bears good news. It identifies upticks in parental employment, improvements in high-school graduation rates and a record number of children with health insurance across the country. At the same time, deep racial and ethnic disparities persist; the number of families living in areas of concentrated poverty has grown; and the nation’s child poverty rate remains high — at 21%.
With these national trends on record, the Data Book calls on policymakers to “take a long view.” It advocates for smart, sustained government investments that will help eliminate systemic barriers to success while creating pathways of opportunity for those most in need. Such support can help all children — including children of color and children from immigrant families — become healthier, more likely to complete high school and better positioned to contribute to the nation’s economy as adults.
At the state level, the Data Book ranks New Hampshire No. 1 in overall child well-being. Two New England neighbors — Massachusetts and Vermont— sit at spots 2 and 3, respectively, and three states to the south — Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi — fall at the opposite end of the list, ranking 48, 49 and 50, respectively.
View the national fact sheet or download your state's fact sheet as a PDF below:
Among the Data Book’s 16 key indicators of child well-being, just four moved in the wrong direction. Education is home to two of these rough spots. The proportion of young children not in school inched upward — rising by one percentage point to 53% in 2013 to 2015. In addition, the proportion of eighth graders not proficient in math followed the same pattern — climbing by one percentage point to 68% in 2015.
The nation’s 21% child poverty rate belies a much wider range of realities when the data is broken down by race and ethnicity. In 2015, children who were white (12%) or Asian and Pacific Islander (13%) were far less likely than the average child to be growing up in poverty. At the same time, children who were African-American (36%) or American Indian (34%) were far more likely to experience this same hardship.
States in the Southeast, Southwest and Appalachia — areas with the lowest levels of household income in the nation — populated the bottom of the Data Book’s rankings in overall child well-being. In fact, these regions were home to nearly all (18 of 20) of the lowest-ranked states on this list.
In 2015, child poverty rates varied widely at the state level, ranging from a low of 11% in New Hampshire to a high of 31% in Mississippi.
Kids are now less likely to grow up in families burdened by high housing costs. In 2010, 41% of all children — 31.1 million kids nationwide — lived in high-housing-cost families. In 2015, only 33% of children — 24.6 million kids total — fit this same statistic.
The likelihood that no parent has full-time, year-round work is highest for children who are American-Indian (47%) and African-American (45%) and lowest for children who are white (23%) and Asian and Pacific Islander (21%).
Just 5% of kids — 3.5 million children nationwide — lacked health insurance in 2015. This is an uptick of 38% — or 2.4 million more kids insured — compared to 2010.
Across America, there were 25 deaths per 100,000 children and teens in 2015. At the state level, this statistic varied widely. Connecticut had the lowest rate—15 deaths per 100,000 kids and teens — while Montana had the highest rate — 43 deaths per 100,000 kids and teens.
In 2015, 8.1% of babies born in the United States had a low birthweight. When this same statistic is broken down by race and ethnicity, clear disparities emerge. Low birthweights were most common among African-American babies (13%) and far less likely among white (6.2%) and Latino (7.2%) babies.
